Back Country Horsemen of America, Volunteer Hours Press Release August 2008: The Back Country Horsemen of America is pleased to announce that its members performed 244,840 hours of volunteer service for the year 2007 to benefit trail users in the back country. BCHA has member organizations in 25 states. Our national volunteer hours for the past thirteen years are $1,646,519. Think of the dollar value as a gift or donation to the people of the United States who use our back country totaling $37,205,036. Impressive, don’t you think! Read the whole article here.
Members, please click here to download our 'Individual Volunteer Hours' form. Fill out this form and submit to our work team coordinator. This is a Microsoft Word document, if you prefer to print out a PDF form and fill it out by hand click here.
Wolf Creek CA, Golden Canyon, High Trail to Soda Springs Many hours of hard work were devoted to the Golden Canyon Trail by BCHN members, the PCTA (Pacific Crest Trail Association) and the Carson Ranger District. The Golden Canyon trail has been pretty much unused and not maintained for about 20 years. See also the email acknowledgement from the Carson Ranger District thanking all those involved. The team removed logs and boulders, cleared trail, erected signs and performed other maintenance. Not only did BCHN members work on the trail, they provided the labor and stock to pack in all the tools and equipment necessary for the job. Follow this link to the PCT intersection with Golden Canyon N38.4592 W119.7271.
Trail work in the Wolf Creek area near Soda Springs.
Mike, above left with 2 hikers, and Sonia, center photo, clear trail with the help of some hikers. The teams head back for more supplies.
Getting the animals ready at the Wolf Creek trailhead with Phil Sullivan.
Group Shot, BCHA and USFS crews at Soda Springs. After the old corral, which has been down for five plus years, together with wire etc, was cleaned up we took a breather. Sixteen new holes were dug by Fire Crew 5 of Markleeville. Younger workers did get things done much faster than Ol’ timers Phil & Mike. Done also that same day, we planted and set all posts tamped true and plumb. BCHN Carson Valley Chapter will be installing the cross members to the 50ft Round Pen summer of 2010.
The Five in the back are: (l toR)Frank Machler, Shawn Whalen, Genny Wilson (USFS Dist Ranger), Javier Trujillo, Courtney Priess(USFS). Middle Row: Marin Stark, Phil Sullivan & Mike Arkell, from BCHA Carson Valley. Kneeling is Benjamin Rotenberg with Phil’s AKC registered Pain in the Ass Queensland Sqweeler, Tess.
Center Picture above L to R are: Ben, Javier, Phil (BCHN), Frank and Our Chapters' own 'Mr. Warmth', Mike Arkell.
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The BCHN Hank Curry Clinic held April 4th 2009 was a very enjoyable success. Almost 100 participants turned out, some with their horses. Hank Curry is the head trainer at the Warm Springs Correctional Center training facility in Carson City and the man behind the current success of the Carson City Prison Wild Horse Program. Since Hank has taken over this training facility the demand for and the value of the horses he trains has steadily risen. The most exceptional thing about Hank . . . he not only trains the horses, he trains the men to train the horses. Click HERE to see more about Hank Curry.
Hank helped horses and their owners deal with problems ranging from hard to catch and halter, picking up feet, crossing water (or blue tarps) to dealing with spooky things like blowing feed bags and dragging ropes. Hank also helped owners with trailer loading and unloading and various other issues. Due to rider interest the clinic ran over time but everyone got an opportunity to work with Hank. Many thanks to Hank Curry and all of the paricipants who helped make this a very informative and entertaining event.
BCHN Calendar of Events. We plan a variety of rides, meetings, training classes, trail clearings and maintenance, special events and other 'get togethers' each year. The 2010 Calendar of events will be posted as soon as it is available. Events are open to Members Only. All events are subject to change, please contact the event manager to confirm dates and times.